Whether you’re expecting or you already enjoy the pitter-patter of tiny feet running through your home, there’s something to be said about creating a space that works for you now that you’re no longer the sole presider over your residence.
Yes, the ornate fireplace might have once been an integral feature of your cozy Sunday night soirées with friends, or the tight kitchen might have been perfect for prepping those whirlwind dinners after work. But as our lives and priorities change, your family sanctuary must adapt and evolve to better suit your needs.
Whether you undertake work to your existing home or start trawling Zillow and Redfin for the perfect modern family home, below are the key elements that should shape your journey from couple to family living.
How Family Spaces Have Evolved
While maintaining certain features, family spaces have evolved over the years and continue to do so. What may have been integral to your parents in the 90s might no longer have a place in our interconnected IoT-driven world.
Likewise, layouts have shifted dramatically over the years, moving away from compartmentalized homes to open floor plans promoting family interaction, seamless room flows, and multi-functional spaces.
For instance, look at kitchens. These spaces used to be closed-off areas where wives and mothers would traditionally be furiously at work prepping, cooking, and cleaning. Thankfully, society has progressed, and this is no longer the case.
Today, kitchens are now very much open socialization hubs, with guests mingling and providing entertaining chatter over the breakfast bar worktops that define so many family homes.
This may represent a single room, but similar changes have occurred across the family home. So, let’s look at some of the critical tenets of today’s ideal family home.
Make Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Choices
Sustainability has been a buzzword in the home décor arena for years. However, today it stands as an inescapable influence over our home choices.
We all feel the onus to live in more environmentally conscious ways. Every time we switch on an appliance or throw something away in the trash, there’s a pang associated with knowing it impacts the environment, leaving less of an Earth for our little ones that we inherited from our parents.
So what can you do? The best place to start is with your energy consumption. The less we use it, the kinder we are to Mother Earth.
The problem? It’s tricky to achieve if you live in a rented or old home. While new home builders offer state-of-the-art energy-efficient building processes, materials, appliances, and lighting fixtures as standard, replacing every light bulb, machine, and device in your home might not be as appealing.
It can be done, though, and for less than you think. Firstly, LEDs are both cheap and readily available. Secondly, while there’s unquestionably an upfront investment, you can often recoup long-term savings with modern appliances.
For example, many devices such as dishwashers can be programmed to operate in the middle of the night, when electricity is cheapest.
There are other ways you can create a more sustainable space. Upcycle wherever possible, save waste to create DIY art installations,and teach your little ones the importance of recycling and composting. Creating a balcony herb garden can be another fun family activity that educates children about sustainable living and the joys of growing their food.
Always Keep Flexibility in Mind
While you may have planned to start a family, now that your little one(s) are here, life will become less predictable. What you and the kids love one week will quickly outgrow and become stale, meaning the emphasis should always remain on creating open, flexible, and adaptable spaces within your new family home.
For instance, you will no doubt lose a bedroom to a nursery or full-time room(s) for your new arrivals. So what happens now when the grandparents come to stay?
With some intelligent design choices, you can make a downstairs playroom into a home office or guest room without needing a mammoth reorganization or clean-up operation.
Likewise, maybe you have a games room that is a hub of family fun. With a few clever storage options built in and chic touches of décor hiding in wardrobes, you can quickly transform it into an incredible adult-friendly evening entertainment space, with only the baby monitor providing a reminder of its previous life of just a few hours prior.
No room is off-limits here. When children are small, their rooms are often sparse, with only a small wardrobe required for their clothes and other earthly belongings. Use this to your advantage. Look at bringing in a handy sofa bed that gives very little away about its double life.
Or decorate and furnish the room as a professional study (they won’t know!) and throw up the travel crib for naps and bedtimes in minutes.
With more of you in the house, you need to extract more functionality from the space you already have.
Harness Smart Technology to Protect Your Time
If there’s one thing you don’t have as a parent, it’s time. From the moment they’re born to the day they leave for college; your time will forever be beholden to their every whim.
So, what does that mean in the context of creating a perfect family home? In short, you need to hack back your time through technology.
From smart thermostats that you can set and forget to controlling your washing machine, dishwasher, and grocery shopping schedules through your smart speaker, you need innovative technology in your home to create an environment for quality family time, including for you and your partner.
When we speak about intelligent tech and automation, it’s usually concerning the world of work. But this technological advancement should be harnessed and leveraged by every busy family household. Machines and algorithms should take care of the mundane and routine so you can focus on the most important things, such as creating memories with your kids.
Incorporate and Embrace Personal Touches
Every family home should reflect its inhabitants. And while it can be great to implement the latest color-matching décor trends on Pinterest, it’s worth remembering the personal touches.
With that in mind, consider adding personal additions to your family spaces.
For instance, why not create a family photo wall to add to as your family changes and grows?
Of course, it doesn’t all have to be about decorative pieces. Maybe you’ve spotted a unique piece of furniture that screams “you,” or you have an odd space in your home that you want to transform into a cozy little reading nook.
The point is that you need to let go of the fear of doing something unconventional and work with what you have. These are your four walls; your choices will ultimately determine your home’s personality.
So be bold, be personal, and most importantly, be you. The most authentic family homes have unique quirks and charms. Don’t be afraid to embrace yours.
Crafting Your Perfect Family Home Requires Forward-Thinking and Fearlessness
While there are no hard and fast rules for the ideal family home, the above recommendations will help ensure you enjoy your space as much as possible, no matter your specific circumstances.
With increasingly smart technology doing the hard yards, open and flexible spaces giving you more functionality, and emphasizing making good choices for the planet, you and your children are bound to grow together in a space that promotes happy and healthy family living.
